Gesture - Volume 23, Issue 3, 2024

Abstract

Prior research has shown that gestures can help solve mental rotation problems. Given that mental rotation ability is malleable through training, the current study aims to explore the beneficial effect of observing gestures on improving mental rotation abilities and the possible underlying mechanism of this effect. We conducted two experiments using a pretest-training-posttest design. Experiment 1 showed that participants in the speech-plus-gesture group improved more than those in the speech-only group, demonstrating that observing gestures has a beneficial role in mental rotation training. Experiment 2 revealed that when performing a secondary movement involving the legs during video observation, the participants in the speech-plus-gesture group improved more than those in the speech-only group. However, no significant between-group differences were observed when the secondary movement involved the arms. These findings suggest that observing gestures is beneficial for promoting individuals’ mental rotation abilities through the exploitation of the learner’s motor system in training.

Abstract

This article explores how methodological decisions about which gestures to include impact the analysis of multimodal event representation. Gestures commonly temporally align with semantically co-expressive speech. However, when we consider not single concepts but whole events the picture gets more complicated, since events are not mapped onto single lexical items but across larger stretches of spoken language. To research gesture-speech integration in multimodal event expressions we must decide which gestures are considered ‘relevant’. Using caused motion events as a case study, we apply different definitions of gesture inclusion relating to temporal and semantic alignment. We investigate the impact of definition choice on the results by exploring corpus data from Australian English and two endangered Oceanic languages, Saliba-Logea and Sudest. The study shows comparable trends across some conditions but also language- and definition-specific differences. This has a bearing on how confidently we can compare studies based on different methodologies and/or languages.

Abstract

Relational developmental systems (RDS) approaches to communicative development trace the origins of (social) pointing back to early instances of non-social index finger use. So far, no empirical longitudinal examination of this proposal exists. This paper reports on a longitudinal analysis of non-social index finger use and pointing from 6 to 16 months (n = 114) based on a parent questionnaire. We investigated early motor abilities, cognitive abilities, caregiver sensitivity and non-intrusiveness as potential predictors of pointing. Non-social index finger use and pointing increased from 6 to 16 months. Non-social index finger use was longitudinally related to pointing. Pointing was more likely to be reported with increasing age, and when non-social index finger use was present. Early cognitive, but not motor abilities moderated this relationship. Sensitivity and non-intrusiveness were not related to pointing. This longitudinal study provides empirical support for the theoretical proposal that pointing emerges from non-social index finger use.

This article reviews The Cambridge Handbook of Gesture Studies

This article reviews Signed language and gesture research in cognitive linguistics